Lilly
by Dragon-Spit
Summary: JUST FING READ IT! I HAVEN'T HAD A SINGLE REVIEW AND THIS THING HAS BEEN ON HERE FOR YONKS. REVIEW...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO...
1. Chapter 1 Grimmauld Place

Chapter 1 – Grimmauld place  
  
Lilly awoke, a white tiled ceiling was above her pounding head, and she could smell the nauseating mix of disinfectant and disease. She had all sorts of wires and tubes running over her now pallid and clammy skin. Her vision was bleary and her head throbbed with pain. She struggled to remember where she was and why, she failed dismally. She tried to sit up but the pain that shot through her body forced her to lie back down again. She began to panic, sweat moistened her skin and her breathing became erratic. She began to strain to sit up, fighting the agony, screaming as the white-hot bolts of burning pain jarred her body. All of a sudden lights were coming on and people were rushing in. several people were surrounding her bed and beeping on machinery, one took her shoulders and forced her back down. "Calm down Elizabeth, calm down! You are disturbing the other patients."  
"What the fuck?! Where am I? What happened?!"  
"You are in Hospital, you had an accident. It was an explosion. You aren't seriously hurt which is amazing, considering you were right in the middle of it."  
Lilly finally lay back down breathing heavily. A mask was put over her mouth and nose and she was soon asleep. However – after fitful dreams of green light and screaming - she awoke again, a few hours later this time to a completely different set of people, about 6 or so.  
"What the..."  
"Lilly, don't be alarmed, we are the Order of the phoenix, a secret magical organisation. I am afraid that we cannot explain now."  
"Magical?!"  
"We have come to help you. If we don't move quickly we'll be caught so you must come with us now."  
"Help me?!"  
"Let us explain Lupin, other wise we'll never get anywhere at this rate." said an eccentric looking girl of about 20, her short hair was bright blue and spiked. "Very well, Lilly, you are a witch, you have suffered from a condition known as bottled magic. This is where your magic is contained within you without release long after it should show through. Unfortunately it is impossible to detect until the magic bursts fourth in an amazing display. This usually happens on first contact with magic. Your first contact with magic was yesterday, you made contact with the magic of the most dangerous wizard known. Well actually, not really, it's more complicated than that, but we will explain later. Anyway -This made it extremely spectacular, it near killed you. Also, to make things even more complicated you are a most peculiar...err...breed of witch." He paused and rummaged around in a bag that was on the edge of her bed. He produced a piece of paper, it read:  
  
'Aaron Mortimer was born of Tom Riddle and a Veela called Gina Valance  
  
Syrah Laveau was born of Marrie Laveau and trickster wizard Bartholomew Wicksacher  
  
Xangth Mortimer was born of these two  
  
Tatkum Alariyahd was born of the immortal Immotep and the last living direct decendent of Cleopatra.  
  
Lillianth was born of Lillith and an unknown sire, presumed dead  
  
Elena Alariyahd was born of these two  
  
Elizabeth Mortimer was born of Xangth Mortimer and Elena Alariyahd'  
  
"Wha...?!" Lilly opened and closed her mouth wordlessly "You're Crazy! Get away from me! Somebody help! There are patients escaped from the loony- bin at the end of my bed!"  
"SSH!!...We're telling the truth!" said he who was apparently known as Lupin  
"Oh right sure...I believe you. Hell yeah!" She said "Somebody Help!!"  
"Sshh! Okay, okay! You want to see some magic?" A man that Lilly had not noticed before now growled, his face was covered in scars, a large chunk was missing from his nose and his mouth was stretched in to a gap in his face. He produced a polished rod of wood, presumably his 'wand', he pointed it into the air and said "Accio!" the piece of paper flew out of Lilly's hands and in to his own.  
"Iron and Magnetism," she said folding her arms  
"All right, Incendo!" The paper became wreathed in green and purple flames but did not burn, the smoke smelt of honey and peaches. Lilly sat with her mouth hanging open.  
"Meh?!" She yelped  
"Do you want to see something a little more impressive?" Lupin asked. Lilly slowly nodded. "Levadium Terranto!" All of a sudden the wires and tubes came away from her body and in a swirl of colour she was once again wearing her own clothes. They had been completely repaired and smelt clean. "Will you please come with us now, you are in grave danger if you stay here any longer..." he trailed off, retrieving her bag from her bedside cupboard.  
"Uh...how am I supposed to walk if I can't even sit up?" she said  
"Relievé!" he said pointing his wand at her. Suddenly, the pain stopped and she was able to get out of bed and take her bag. A thin, ginger-haired man produced a piece of string that was tied into a ring and told everyone to hold on to it. Lilly placed a finger round it, the other's did the same. Then Lilly felt like something was pulling her up and away, her fingers were stuck to the piece of string and they were all moving very fast. After a confusion of shapes and colours they landed with a jolt that made the poor girl fall in a heap. The others were still standing; she struggled to her feet, swaying slightly. She could feel the effects of the spell wearing off, a dull pain was returning to her body. She found herself on the pavement of a run down street. The foreboding houses loomed threateningly.  
"Are you sure it's safe to take her inside Lupin? You never know what she may give away if she turns."  
"Moody, we've discussed this, she doesn't even know who Voldemort is. Remember, we're going to put a mental block on her. That way she will never be able to tell anyone about the Order, now can we go inside before we attract any attention?"  
The mutilated man grumbled and produced a piece of parchment, which was handed to Lilly. "Memorise it, then hand it back immediately." He barked. She looked at the small rectangle of paper, all it said was 'The headquarters of the order of the phoenix may be found at number 12 Grimmauld place, London'. She handed it back to the man, who burnt it to ashes with his wand. Lilly looked up at the houses in front of her, she saw number 11 then the one next to it was number 13, there was no number 12. Then, as if by magic - actually, it probably was magic – the houses were being pushed apart by a door that appeared in between, followed by dark, dank walls, and some windows. Lilly gaped, a house stood there, as if it always had been there. The others, unperturbed strode up to the door; Lupin had taken her by the arm. He rapped once on the door (which had no letter box, no door knob and no keyhole) with his wand. There was a series of metallic clicks and grindings then the door swung open. Lilly entered the eerie house; it was old and smelled slightly mouldy. All of a sudden the excruciating pain returned to her body, even the anaesthetic given to her by the doctor had worn of. She slumped on to her knees, her whole world was spinning, the pain reverberated through her body. She couldn't see, her eyes had rolled up into her head, but she was perfectly conscious, and the pain shook her even more. She let out an ear splitting shriek of agony before keeling over side ways and passing out. She awoke again in a large, ancient kitchen; she was lying on a big, wooden table. Someone had propped her head up with something soft and cushy. A slightly plump woman with dark, curly hair bustled over. She handed Lilly a cup of steaming purple liquid and a spoon full of green crystals.  
"Take the crystals first, then swallow it all down with the drink." She said. In hope that it would ease the pain, and since she was past caring, Lilly did as she was told. After a few minutes the pain was lifted, she gained full use of all her muscles, her head cleared and a small star shaped laceration on her shoulder healed over. Unfortunately it scarred but she ignored that fact. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the table. She jumped down and looked around, more people had appeared since when she was last awake, they were staring at her warily.  
"Umh, could someone tell me where the bathroom is?"  
"Oh yes! Of course, emh I'll expect you need a towel, I will get you a shower, just hang on for one second dear!" The woman who had given her the potion got a fluffy white towel out of a cupboard then lead Lilly up some stairs out of the kitchen and through a door to the hall in which she had collapsed before. Then they went on up some stairs, the walls were lined with what looked like shrunken heads, Lilly drew back. However, as the woman seemed untroubled she carried on following her, watching the steps so she didn't have to look at the grotesque faces. On the first landing they turned off down a hall, soon they came to a door. The woman stopped  
"Here we are, this is the bathroom, you will be sleeping in that room," She pointed down the hall. "Your things are in there. My name is Molly by the way."  
"Err...Molly, when is everything going to be explained?" said Lilly, before she entered the bathroom.  
"Oh, well, it's best that waits until the morning, just get to sleep. You will be sharing a room with Hermione and Ginny. Try not to wake them up when you go in. Tomorrow we will be going to Diagon Alley to get some things for you." Molly bustled off without another word.  
Lilly spent a long time in the shower; she stood under the shower in dazed confusion for a long while. She decided that it was all just a strange dream and when she went to sleep she would wake up, back in the hospital bed. But then she could not deny what had happened before she had woken up in hospital. That was surely magic, all that green light and who was that strange boy and why did he want to kill her? She eventually got out the shower and dried herself. Once she was in this new, strange bedroom she changed into her bedclothes and sleepily curled up in her bed covers. She fell asleep instantly but was once again over come with the sporadic dreams of green light and that terrible heart wrenching screaming. She woke again, sweating, her body searing with pain when dawn was only just breaking. She lay back and waited for the pain to subside before realising exactly where she was, ok, she thought, maybe it isn't just a dream. She quietly slid out of bed and got dressed then snuck down stairs. She was just tiptoeing down the stairs when a tiny and incredibly ugly, half naked man jumped out from behind the corner.  
"What is you doing? You is sneaking around my mistresses house? You thieving little impurity! What would mistress says if she is knowing what scum hath corrupted the house of Black?" it muttered narrowing it's eyes "Who is you? What is you wanting?" it growled in its icy high-pitched voice.  
Lilly, having stayed silent through out this small speech screamed loudly and ran back up stairs. She stumbled at the top and fell to the feet of a black haired boy, about her age, with green eyes and a slightly pinched look about him. She looked up at him from beneath her hair. She blinked her big eyes and breathed heavily. She then got up in a flurry, insistent on maintaining at least some of her dignity. However, when she had regained her stance she could feel her face getting hot with embarrassment. She looked at the ground, but only to meet the eyes of that weird creature which was standing by her, muttering and babbling under its breath. She yelped and leapt behind the boy for protection.  
"What the hell is that?!" she whispered, pointing at the thing, just as she heard several pairs of feet come charging down stairs.  
"That, is a house elf," the boy said looking at her confusedly "Who are you?"  
"Lilly," she mumbled, going red again, she wasn't used to boys and found it hard to talk to them.  
"Why are you here?" he asked  
"I don't actually know, I was bought here by some random people, and I have no idea what is going on,"  
"Lilly! Are you ok? Why were you screaming? Why are you out of bed?" said a flustered Molly.  
"I couldn't sleep, I was just going to have a quick look around then that thing," she said pointing at the 'house-elf', "Ambushed me."  
A girl, also about Lilly's age, with untamed bushy hair, opened her mouth as if to protest but then thought better of it and closed it again. Lilly recognised her as one of the other girls that had been in the same bedroom as her  
"Oh, don't worry about Kreacher, he won't harm you." Said a wild and slightly ill looking man kicking the elf out of the way. "You're lucky you didn't wake up Mrs Black." Suddenly, Lilly recognised him, her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose into her hairline. Then once again she started screaming, she pegged it down stairs and searched for a way of escape, then all of a sudden her screams were accompanied by another's "FILTHY MUD-BLOODS! IMPURE! IMPURE! HOW DARE SUCH CRETINS FILTHY MY HOUSE!"  
Lilly fell silent, and looked in the direction of a curtain, which was now swept back to reveal a painting of an old and evil looking woman who was cursing at the top of her lungs. Lilly's mouth dropped open and she tripped over an umbrella stand, which stood behind her. She stared at the picture for a moment then started screaming again. There was a flurry of movement as people wrenched the hangings shut over the picture and a man's strong hands took hold of her.  
"Lilly! Be quiet," a voice shouted  
She immediately fell silent, she was led quickly back into the kitchen where she had woken up after passing out the night before. Several people followed, she estimated that there were about 15 of them. She was taken to a chair and told to sit down which she did. She looked dazedly at the strangers; her eyes kept falling on one person again and again. He was in his 20s and had long vivid red hair, tide back in a ponytail. He was very handsome and had an amazing taste in clothes; he wore baggy jeans, boots, a ripped T-shirt and what looked like a fang dangling from his left ear. But her eyes were torn away from him when another figure entered the room. He was tall and ancient looking, he had a long silvery beard to match the feet of hair that sprouted from his head. His wizened eyes twinkled slightly as he cast them around the room. 


	2. Chapter 2 New Beginnings

Chapter 2 – New Beginnings  
  
"I think, that the time has come to explain to you, Lilly, exactly what is going on." The whole room had fallen silent at his entrance. He strode across to a chair, at the table, opposite Lilly. "Good morning Lilly, my name is Albus Dumbledoor, I am the headmaster of Hogwarts, school of witch-craft and wizardry." He paused and smiled, "What you witnessed late yesterday evening was a magic so powerful that due to your condition you have absorbed it and have become most...sporadically intense with magic that we have had to temporarily disarm you. The bottom line is, Lilly, you are a witch. This may be alarming but I assure you that you will eventually get used to it." Lilly swallowed nervously, "The magic that you encountered was that of Togira, You will have heard of the Hiroshima bombing won't you?" She nodded "Togira caused that, without even using a single spell, you will learn the significance of this over time. Voldemort, the most powerful evil wizard known, supposedly recruited this Togira to kill you, when he learnt of your, shall we say...family ties? However, the fact that you are related to Voldemort and some of the most powerful people that ever lived halted Togira's power which was then absorbed into you. This being your first contact with magic caused a colossal release from your pent up magic. This, is why you are here, you are now the most wanted witch by Voldemort, not because he wants to kill you, but now he wants to use your power for evil. We are to protect you and guide you and teach you about your magic and how to control it. If you were to enter the world of wizarding you would be attending my school, Hogwarts with Harry, Hermione and Ron in your year. You have also inherited a small amount from your parents." "My parents?" asked Lilly, she had never known anything about her parents, she had grown up in an orphanage but had run away and was living in squats from the age of 13. "Yes Lilly, they were good people." His eyes twinkled; he cleared his throat and continued and continued, "As I was saying...ah yes, you will be attending Hogwarts. However if we re-activate your magic you may suffer from certain symptoms such as, change in form, visions, the inability to part you self from those you find attractive along with many others. Most of these symptoms are treatable with time and patience. So, we have to ask you if you consent to your magic being reactivated before we go any further, I would like to warn you that if it is not reactivated then you will not be able to become part of the wizarding world and it will become incredibly hard for us to protect you. Also, the sooner your magic is reactivated the less severe the symptoms will be. Well, I think that clears that up, what do you think?" "Err...I think that it would be best that my magic be activated because...because...then I might have a home to belong to?" she went very red and trailed of and looked at the floor. "That's quite all right Lilly," said Dumbledoor putting his hand inside his robes and producing a wand "Now, try to stay relaxed." He muttered an incantation but Lilly never heard it because of the roaring sound that filled her ears like white water rushing over her. She panicked slightly as her vision blurred and a thousand voices seemed to shout and babble. Her head began to throb; it felt like it was splitting with pain. Then, it stopped; she was back in the kitchen, but now, just above the floor. However her back was searing with pain, she could feel her flesh convulsing, she rolled on to her front just as her back felt like it had exploded and when she looked across to one side what looked like the tip of a wing was trailing above the floor. Her back continued to hurt for a few minutes and the tip of the wing reached the floor. She sat up and turned her head as far back as she could, and there they were, a great humongous pair of jet-black wings which shimmered with jade and azure hues, were protruding from her back. Before she had time to faint, however, her eyes began to sting and ache so much that she began to claw at them with her hands. Then her hands began to sear with agony, an agony that spread through her entire body. Finally after about 10 minutes of heart-stopping hell it ceased and she breathed a huge sigh of relief. But, she felt a weird feeling in the bit of her stomach like something was dragging her towards something. Then it hit her, the inability to part ones self from those one finds attractive. She looked up at the red head, she tried to find something to hold on to, but it was to late, she could feel her now long and strong nails scraping the stone floor as she was dragged across it, she found that the more she resisted the more it began to hurt. She was finally forced to relax and she was soon facing this guy, they appeared to be connected by the chest, exactly were the heart is supposed to be. Lilly went absolutely beetroot and looked the other way. Molly who was clutching an old book approached them. She looked at them then opened the book at the index, after much flicking and turning of pages she stopped and read aloud. "When the subject and his/her attachee are joined by the heart it means that the feeling is mutual, the connection can be easily be broken when both parties confess their love and consent to a relationship. However, they can never have a relationship for more than a week at a time, other wise, they will become hostile and violent towards each other. There will always be a time of about a month between each week long relationship where both will be attracted to other people, as these are secondary attractions the sufferer of bottled magic need not worry about the symptom of attachment to much as it can be easily broken with this breaking spell...etc. etc. Thankfully, eventually, the original love will be allowed to continue in a more steady relationship once the sufferer is past puberty as long as they are both still in love." She finished off beaming "I know it might seem hard at first, but you'll make a perfect couple!" A pair of red head twins sniggered. Lilly took the chance and glanced at her new attachment and found that he too had gone very red and was looking at his right foot. She found that she had the cling to him, with her arms round his neck other wise it was very uncomfortable, as she was suspended about half a foot from the ground. "Lilly, this is Bill, my oldest son." Said Molly "Hi," he mumbled, turning still redder and grinning slightly stupidly, Lilly marvelled at how cute he was. "Hi," she said quietly hiding her face in his shoulder. "Well, are you going to confess your love or are we going to be standing here all morning?" sniggered a lanky boy who was sitting next to that black haired boy. "With everyone watching?!" said Bill indignantly, as if on cue most people stood up and left, however the twins that Lilly had noticed before were sitting down looking jovial, obviously ready for a show, however, Molly grabbed them each by the ear and dragged them out. "Umh," she said, looking down Bill cleared his throat. They finally turned their heads and looked at each other, Lilly nervously looked down again, but Bill took her chin and tilted it back up. "You're really beautiful," he said, Lilly looked into his eyes and blinked she kissed his lips softly; she wasn't quite sure why she did it. Suddenly he was kissing her back his arms supporting her, one hand in her hair. After a few minutes they pulled back Finally Lilly took up the courage to whisper in his ear "I love you, I'm not sure why, but I do." She breathed, she clutched at him a little harder "I love you too, will you...emh?" he asked "Yes," she sighed snuggling into his shoulder. Finally the bond broke and they fell apart, Lilly landed on her feet. However, their hands were still stuck together, they could move them around and everything but they couldn't pull them apart. "Mum!" Bill shouted, Molly came floating in almost immediately "Yes dear?" "We can't get our hands apart," "Oh, dear." She said frowning and re-opening her book, she scanned through the page the said, "Ah! Here we are, if the case of Bottled magic is particularly severe then the attachment may take a little more time to break completely. Usually about one to three days." "How am I supposed to go to work with my hand attached to my girlfriend?" he said indignantly "Well hopefully the bond will have broken by Monday, today being Saturday and all." She said, "You're just going to have to live with it if it doesn't, you can always take the day off." "But I can't! I've got some very important clients coming in on Monday." "Well if the bond hasn't broken then you're just going to have to take her in with you. You'll just have to explain to them why you can't let go of her hand." "I suppose this means I'm coming shopping with you today?" "Yes, I'm sorry we can't do anything about it." "How am I supposed to try clothes on?" Lilly put in "Oh, yes the book said something about being able to pass sheets of material between the bond." Molly said. 


	3. Chapter 3 Diagon Alley

Chapter 3 – Diagon Alley  
  
Molly bustled around putting pots, pans and a kettle on the stove. The others had all re-entered and were now seating them selves. Breakfast was ready in 10 minutes, Bill had trouble eating with his left hand however, he got used to it eventually. Once they had all eaten and the plates were in the sink Bill and Lilly went up stairs so that Bill could retrieve his money. When they went back down stairs Bill lead Lilly into the living room where Molly was waiting with the twins, the black haired boy, his two friends and a short red head girl, a little younger than herself. "Lilly this is Fred and George," he pointed at the twins "Harry," He pointed at the black haired boy "Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Ginny, Ron, Fred and George are my sister and brothers." Lilly smiled "Hi," They all nodded slightly sleepily "Ok, let's go then, Lilly, you use floo powder by throwing a pinch into the fire, stepping into the fire and saying loudly and clearly exactly where you want to go. Though you don't have anything to worry about, Bill will do the navigating." Molly beamed, "Fred, you go first, then George, then you two can go," she touched Lilly's arm, "Followed by Hermione, Ginny, Harry then Ron. I will be following shortly; I just have to ask Dumbledore something. Stay in the inn, I don't want you wondering off, you'll get Lilly into trouble." "Mother, I am perfectly capable of looking after Lilly." "Not by yourself!" Molly said sternly "We'll help him mum, me Harry and Hermione, we've done heaps of dangerous stuff," said Ron, the youngest brother of Bill. Molly looked at him austerely and glared "That's no reason to be looking for trouble young man!" Fred and George had both left by now so Bill led Lilly forward. He through a pinch of shimmering powder in to the flames of the fire, which turned emerald green, then stepped in, taking Lilly with him. Lilly cringed, without realising that the fire did not hurt. He held her close and shouted "Diagon Alley!". Suddenly in a flurry of soot and green flames they were spiralling and shooting through the chimney. Lilly coughed and choked on the dusty air and knocked her elbows and brand-new wings on the chimney walls several times. Finally they slowed and were thrown out into a small dingy pub. There were a couple of people sitting at tables having an early breakfast. A small man, who was sitting at a table quite near them turned curiously, gave a small 'eep' and keeled over side ways off his chair. One lady that was sitting a little further away was staring at them in unblinking alarm. "What?" said Bill, defensively. "I think it might be the wings," Lilly said Bill smiled and nodded to the innkeeper who had just appeared from behind the bar, by this time the whole party had emerged from the fire except Molly. The few minutes they had to wait gave Lilly a chance to look around, the little, dingy, windows only let in a trace light. The pub/inn was lit by lanterns despite the fact that it had been during the day (that's how bad the windows were). There was a littering of small tables, the fireplace they had just emerged from and a bar, with a long line of dodgy looking stools. It was all done up in dark-stained oak-timber which made it all the more dark. As they waited another person came down the stairs, he looked a little older than Lilly and had dread-locks. "Lee!" shouted the twins, "What are you doing here, why aren't you at your parents house?" "I got narked off at them, so they let me spend the weekend away." Said the supposed Lee, grinning and stretching.  
"Cool!" said Fred  
"If only our parents would let us do that!" George sighed  
Then, startling Lilly slightly, Molly materialized in front of the fire.  
"Well, I suppose we should be getting on then." She said  
"See you, Lee," said Fred  
The group wondered out to a little back yard, there was a dusty red- brick wall and a group of dustbins in the corner, that was about the extent of the décor. However, Lilly was amazed when Bill tapped the third brick from the left above the dustbins. This is because a huge archway appeared in the brickwork, exposing an entire street (or was it two?) completely unknown to normal people. Lilly gaped as she was led through the hustle and bustle, past many tantalising shops and boutiques.  
"We'll have to be getting some money out of the bank first." Said Bill as Molly led the way to an old, roman looking building that was directly in front of them. They reached it and trudged up the steps.  
"This is where I work, I used to work in Egypt breaking curses in the pyramids but I had to move closer to home, because of certain occurrences." Bill told Lilly quietly  
"Impressive," said Lilly smiling  
They finally entered 'Gringotts wizarding Bank' and were immediately greeted by a repulsive looking creature. Lilly ignored it's strange appearance while Bill talked to it.  
"Mrs Weasley, may I have the keys?" said the thing  
"Oh yes," she replied producing two keys, then Bill produced his own key. Then they were led to a huge door. The strange entity inserted its nail into a socket in the door and there was a whirring and clicking before the doors were opened. Behind the door was what looked like a large mining cart on a track. They all squeezed in, Lilly had to sit, shyly on Bill's lap. They were both blushing. Then with a stomach-heaving jolt the cart was thrown along the track at a heart stopping speed. After a gut twisting ride in which Ron looked like he was going to be sick, they came to a stop outside another huge door.  
"Mister Harry Potter, I believe this is your door?" the creature spread his arm towards it, the dark haired boy leapt out of the cart and joined the demon on the platform. Lilly peered through the doors as they opened there were small piles of gold, silver and bronze scattered over the floor. Lilly had never known such a young person to own so much money, then again, she had never known a kid to own more than 100 pounds at a time, and that was to pay for food, clothes, shelter and sometimes, against her liking, drugs. He soon returned with a pouch, bulging with money. They visited the Weasley family vault, considerably emptier than Harry's but Lilly didn't say anything. They then reached Hermione's temporary vault, which had an installation from her parents inside, enough to get her through the year. Finally they came to the last vault, Lilly wondered who's it was then after a few seconds that it was her own. She clambered out of the cart, closely followed by Bill. They entered the door and Lilly gasped and almost fell other backwards, but Bill caught her and propped her up. As well as piles of money there was a small assortment of expensive looking objects. She walked over to the group of inheritance and as she did so, the before mentioned ugly creature handed her an envelope. It contained a short letter from her parents and a copy of their will. Tears pricked her eyes as she unfolded the yellowed pieces of parchment. She took a deep breath and read.  
  
Dear Lillibet,  
If you are reading this letter then we are sadly passed away and you are now at least 13. We have left you a small collection of our most valued possessions and enough money to get you through school and to start you out in life. We were expecting our death, which is why we wrote this letter, to tell you that we are still watching over you and that we love you very much. We wish you luck in your life, prove us proud.  
  
Xangth and Elena Mortimer  
  
By the time she had finished reading this tears were streaming down Lilly's face, and the reality of this world lay bare. She had been walking through the past few events in a trance and now it struck her how completely surreal this was, and how alone she was. So there was a boy attached to her arm but she hardly knew these people. Bill put his held her too him for comfort and she took several minutes to calm down before looking at the other piece of paper.  
  
We Xangth and Elena Mortimer leave Lillian Claude Mortimer, our daughter, these items: Fender Stratocaster in dark lightning blue Wood Bass with dark flames Amps Wah lead and pedals Mike and stand Clothes: item 12 – 27 Invisibility cloak Small table and four matching chairs in wrought iron and crystal Oak wardrobe Wrought iron bedstead Our weaponry collection (only blunt and light instruments to be carried for self defence until said obtainee is fully trained and 16) Fit all trunk Magic music player Magic music collection 35,000 Galleons  
  
Notes: Items 1-5, 13 and 14 are magical equipment; they are not run on electricity but magical 'battery' potion, which can be bought at any good apothecary. There are 2.5 pounds to a Galleon, 20 Sickles to a Galleon and 5 Knuts to a Sickle.  
  
Lilly lowered the paper, her hands shaking, her eyes still full off tears, and as if out of her own body she stuffed as much money as she could into a pouch. Then she kneeled by a trunk, which had a ring with seven keys on top of it. She took the first key and opened the trunk she put the two guitars, wah lead and pedals and the mike and stand inside. Then she took the second key and opened the trunk again, it appeared empty, she put the amp, the MMA and records in it along with her new clothes and invisibility cloak. "Lilly, how did you know how that worked?" asked Bill looking confused and slightly concerned. "I don't actually know," said Lilly, her face expressionless, she then closed the trunk. And lifted easily, as it was quite small for a trunk. They were soon re installed in the cart, taking the last ride back up to the surface. While they rode up Lilly was strangely unperturbed and she quietly sung 'Infected' by Bad Religion. She was pleasantly surprised to hear Bill joining in, "You know it?" she grinned "I love it! Rock music was something the muggles excel at. I wonder why us magical peoples didn't think of it first." He grinned. She smiled and sung a little louder; singing and playing the guitar were the two things she was good at. She was also quite good at some martial arts, which she was proud of and was quick to defend herself. They finally emerged at ground level and were soon back in the sunlight. They made their way across the street to a shop called 'Madame Malkin's, it was a large clothes store with a swirley sign above the window. Lilly was fitted for a uniform, she decided to go for the long skirt version and when it came to picking out winter wear she chose fingerless gloves, thigh length socks, extra long scarf and a V-neck jumper instead of a cardigan. Her shirt and robe needed to be altered to accommodate her wings then when she was hopping off her stool Molly piped up "Ah yes, this year you will be needing dress robes, Lilly dear." "Dress robes?" "Formal wear," she said bustling over to the other end of the shop and gesturing at a rail of ladies dress robes. Lilly spent a few minutes looking at the different styles, then she saw it, it was perfect. It was black and floor length, just like a normal dress, but special. The layer that would be next to her skin was black silk, strapless and mid-thigh length. The next sleeveless and made of black sheer, it was asymmetric and sloped in a v down to the floor. The top layer was bat-winged and split up the front to about hip height and was made from fine flower lace, it trailed on the floor when worn and was fastened just above the waist. She gathered it up and trotted into the changing rooms, pulling the curtain shut between her and Bills hands. Then she turned, and yelped, the eyes staring back at her were decidedly different, they were huge and brilliant dazzling forest green. She studied the rest of her body, in addition to her new wings, finger nails (which were now long clean and perfect) and eyes, her body shape had changed slightly, where she had been scrawny and flat before she was now fuller and sexier, she suddenly noticed how much her old bra was constricting her, her jeans were a little tight too. She estimated her chest to now be a low c instead of their previous low b. She grinned, and grinned some more when she saw how her canines had grown long an sharp, very sharp, and changed, laboriously into the dress. She tidied her hair a little then stepped dramatically from behind the curtain. "Oh Lilly, it's beautiful, it makes you look so lovely," said Molly, beaming "But isn't it a little revealing?" "No, no, it is a teeny bit short but I don't mind." She said twirling, she looked up at Bill, "What do you think?" "You look beautiful," he said grinning "Ah, excellent choice miss, would you like to chose some shoes to match?" said Madame Malkin "Yes please," Lilly said allowing her self to be lead to rack of shoes, there wasn't a huge range but she picked some strappy black 2-inch heels. When they vacated the shop Lilly was beaming and humming to her self. They went round several more shops and boutiques, the last was a pet's shop. Lilly and Bill went in alone as there was little room to move about, and Lilly spotted what she wanted immediately, a grey half Persian tabby kitten sat in a cage in one corner of the shop. It had big blue eyes and when she approached it said 'play with me!' in a really cute voice. Lilly awed and oohed at it before alerting the assistant. She was soon back outside with her cat, cat basket, cat toys and cat food. They went to the bookshop and the Apothecary for potions and a cauldron. Lastly they went to the wand shop and laboriously she went through at least 20 wands until she found a nice 11-inch willow with dragon heartstring. The time was now 1 o'clock and they had been shopping for 5 hours. "Let's have lunch shall we?" suggested Bill "Yes, let's but then we need to go to muggle London and get you," she brandished her finger at Lilly, "Some new clothes," "Cool, can we go to Camden?" Lilly asked, then after a few seconds, "What about my wings?!" "Oh, a simple spell will hide them, muggles will walk straight through them and not have a clue," "Muggles?" asked Lilly "Non wizarding folk, dear," They had a spectacular lunch at a little sandwich bar near Madame Malkin's. Bill took Lilly on a short walk round Diagon Alley when they had finished. They ended up sitting outside a little café that was hidden round a corner. "Lilly, what was it like? Living on the streets?" "It was, well harsh really. It seemed fun at first, but it wasn't, not after the first few days. I was lucky though, I made some good friends, they set me up in a squat. I guess the only thing I'll miss is the freedom, and of course my friends. They had some good stories to tell." She said, not looking at Bill, because she had some painful memories as well. "What did you do for money?" "Mostly selling pictures, doing portraits, and lot's of begging, I busked sometimes. I'm quite good at guitar." "Did you ever...um..." "No," she said abruptly "I neither did hard drugs or sold my body." She smiled to herself, "I knew people who did though." "Were you ever assaulted?" Lilly fell silent and studied a napkin that lay on the table. "You can tell me, but you don't have to if you don't want to, I'm sorry." He went red and looked away. "No, it's okay. Well I was, by a gang of lads about 4 of them, they were all about 18. I was 14 at the time, luckily I didn't get pregnant, but they stole all my earnings from that day, I went hungry for the next couple of days." She blinked as her eyes watered, but she managed to hold back the tears, it had been a strangely emotional day. She looked up at Bill who was now looking concernedly into her eyes, she blinked and looked away again. But Bill took hold of her chin and held it so that she was looking at him then kissed her on the lips, gently. She smiled and stood up. "We should go meet your mother." She said, Bill stood, but he didn't make a move to actually leave. Instead he held her in his arms and kissed her again, this time he parted her lips with his tongue and slid it inside her mouth. It played softly against her own and she found herself caressing the back of his neck. Lilly moved her other hand (keeping in contact with him) up to his chest and pressed her body closer. She moved her tongue deeper inside his mouth. After a few minutes they finally broke away. They returned their hands to their held position and continued to the Leaky Cauldron. They grinned whilst walking along and the time flew by and they were a little amazed when they found that they were back in the pub. Molly was sitting there and she stood when they arrived "Shall we go then? I've let the others roam freely in the alley." She said, "One moment Lilly, diguisé!" Molly flicked her wand at Lilly's wings, she saw them disappear out of the corner of her eye. The trip to London was fruitful; Lilly was extremely pleased to come back with many items of clothing. They had lots of fun, despite Molly's rumblings about how she dressed too much like Bill and should try on a pretty dress. Molly also got quite a shock at the amount of people that were offering them drugs. They refused of course. Other the 3-hour time span Lilly acquired:  
  
2 pairs of jeans (One light, one dark – all wide legged and baggy)  
3 pairs of chords (one purple, one black and one white with rips)  
2 skirts (one very short and tartan, one floor length and black)  
5 T-shirts  
2 shirts  
3 skate tops  
3 net tops (one sleeveless and white - one long sleeve, wide necked  
and black – and one boob tube and blue with black band to cover  
boobs)  
2 pairs of shorts (one skater and dark, one short summer ones and  
light)  
2 customised tops (one red and safety-pinned – one black and  
slashed down the front)  
1 bikini  
1 swimsuit  
4 vest-tops (one black, one light blue, one grey and one purple)  
1 leather duster  
5x fingerless gloves (one black net, one blue and black stripes,  
one multiple brown stripes, one dark red, dark green, autumn  
orange, dirty blue and dark brown patches, one plain black and arm  
length)  
20 pairs of socks (10 trainer, 5 toe, 5 thigh length)  
8 bras (1 blue with black lace on top, push up, slight padding - 1  
black and pink lace, slight padding – one plain black plunge neck T-  
shirt, slight pad – 1 sports, no pad - one dark red and a bit see  
through – one green with butterflies - one plain normal white – and  
stay cups [beige])  
16 pairs of knickers (one each to match bra, 3 plain white, 3 plain  
black, one blue ribboned thong and one betty boop thong)  
other lingerie (matching corset and suspenders (Blue with black  
lace over the top)  
5 pairs of tights (two invisi-flesh, one black net suspended, one  
normal black, sheer suspended and one blue and sparkly grip on  
thigh lengths[fluffy garter-ness])  
6 pairs of shoes (one pair of gothic boots, one pair of vans, one  
pair of regular trainers, one pair of school shoes, one pair of  
purple doc-martens and one pair of Hawaiian print flip-flops)  
Pages and pages of lyrics, music and riffs to loads of cool songs.  
Along with a lot of jewellery, makeup, accessories, other clothing  
and toiletries (mainly spiked or sexy jewellery and black or  
natural make up)  
  
All for about 600 pounds, after the trip, Lilly had to go back to Gringots to stuff yet more money into her purse. She felt incredibly spoilt by the time she got back to Grimmauld place. 


	4. Chapter 4 Mercury

Chapter four – Mercury  
  
Lilly was busy putting all her belongings into her trunk when Bill nibbled her earlobe. Slightly startled, Lilly turned; Bill slipped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. She was caught by surprise and all she could do was melt into him. Fonze, Lilly's new kitten mewed in question. Bill's hands hungrily explored her body, and Lilly breathed heavily as he kissed her neck and shoulder. And that was how they were found when Ginny walked in, yelped and walked back out. They both sat up, red with embarrassment and Lilly continued putting the last few things in the trunk. She could feel her ears burning as Bill watched her intently. She turned to him and smiled  
"Bill, I think we should tone it down a bit, before we give some poor soul a heart-attack." She said  
"Heh, yeah, that might be a good idea." Said Bill blushing, he leant closer "But you're so beautiful," he whispered, smiling. It was now Lilly's turn to blush and she studied the floorboards for a little, whilst Bill looked at her. "I haven't heard you play the guitar yet you know." He said "Well I've never played electric guitar before, and my acoustic is back at the squat." She sighed "Well have a go, maybe tomorrow we'll visit the squat and you can get your stuff and say goodbye to everyone." "Really?" she said, brightening up. "Well, we'll see what the Mother and the others say." He said stroking her face, there was a long pause where they just stared into each others eyes, "Well? Are you going to play the guitar for me or not?" Bill grinned. And Lilly did, she actually found it really easy to play the electric guitar and she was amazed at the sound that came out of the amp. She played all her favourite songs, she didn't know many but she'd soon learn more. When she finished she looked at Bill and he was grinning widely. "That was really good, I wish I could play the guitar." He said longingly "Well...I could teach you bass if you like." She offered sitting down on the bed, next to him. "Really? That would be so cool...but I wouldn't be able to practise while you're at school...and I wouldn't be able to find the time." He sighed "Well bass is quite easy, and you could probably find an old second or third hand bass for around 40 quid. And you can learn on mine until I leave for school, it may only be a week, but if we do an hour every day then you'll soon pick it up." She smiled encouragingly "Hmm...I might give it a go actually if a bass will only cost 17 galleons..." he sat in thought for a while. Lilly quietly knelt by the trunk and was soon putting the bass guitar into Bill's hands. "You hold it like this with your right arm crooked and resting on this edge. Then you hold it by the neck, try not to touch the back with your fingers, and you should be able to hold the strings down without any humming." She plugged the bass into the amp and turned the volume down a little. Then put her plectrum into his fingers. "You literally 'pluck' at the strings, don't twang it too hard and keep your wrist facing up slightly so that the wide end of the plectrum is pointing in the direction you want to pluck or strum. Now just hold down that string with your first finger. Hold it down hard or it'll hum, there's no need to be careful, the strings on a bass are near impossible to snap." She waited a few minutes while Bill perfected his plucking action. "You're good at this, you'll probably be able to play a few songs by the first, but you have to be patient." The lesson continued right up until dinner and Bill came out having learnt exactly how to pluck, hold his fingers down and which fret and which string combined to make each note. They had failed to notice that the bond had broken when they had broken apart after their passionate kiss. They entered the kitchen accompanied by a beam from Molly. "See Bill, I told you it would break!" she said "Oh! I didn't even notice. Did you?" he exclaimed, turning to Lilly who was equally astounded "No! No, I didn't...how odd." Said Lilly staring at her left hand, she smiled, but she felt a little let down, she liked the feeling of his warm, soft skin against her own. The week passed too quickly for Lilly, she new that she would have to leave Bill as just a friend at the end, and she wasn't ready. She distracted herself with her study, she studied almost constantly for the entire week, as hard as she could. By the time it came to the last full day she was up to the standard of a third year, which was astounding progress. The week passed with little interest, however, three days before they were to leave for Hogwarts, Lilly over heard a conversation. She was merely walking down the hall back to the bedroom at night when she suddenly felt faint. She sank to her knees and closed her eyes. She heard a whispering noise, a bit like wind, then voices, at first they made no sense then words began to form, "Lilly's too young to handle that kind of responsibility, I refuse to let you tell her, you said as long as she didn't know then she'd probably be in no danger," It was Molly's voice, but she was down in the kitchen, Lilly concentrated for an answer to the statement. "Yes, yes, I did, but she'll be in worse danger if she does end up getting attached to him, then it'll be even more difficult for us to help her. Anyway Dumbledore said she'd find out anyhow." It was Lupin's voice, he sounded edgy and tired. "I don't see how she could, if she comes to us and asks 'who is Mercury?' then we'll tell her..." said Molly in a final way. "But Molly..." At this point Lilly opened her eyes to find she had slumped over, sprawled on the floor. She decided to take the chance and go down to the kitchen at once. She tip-toed down the stairs and to the kitchen door. She knocked on it, then waited. "Lilly! Wh... what is it?" asked an alarmed Molly. "Who is Mercury?" she asked, Molly stared, blinked and stood with her mouth open for a while before speaking. "Oh...err...I think you should come in dear." Lilly followed Molly down the dark stairs to the large, dank kitchen. Lupin, Bill, Sirius, A tall and strict looking woman, Mr Weasley, Tonks, Mundungus and a couple of other people were all sitting in chairs around the large table. Lilly walked and sat next to Bill, "Uh, could you tell me who Mercury is...please," she said "Of course," said Lupin, clearing his throat. "How long have you known about Mercury?" "About a minute or so," she said, "I collapsed in the hall, and heard part of a conversation, inside my head." Lupin raised his eyebrows "See Molly?" Molly said nothing, but busied herself making tea "Well, mercury is a young boy, about a year older than you, he also suffered form bottled magic, he released when he was about 10, just a year before starting at Hogwarts, however he was part of a very dark wizard family, he is the cousin of Draco Malfoy in fact. They trained him hard in combat, dark magic and other skills using the benefit of the sudden flow of power and magic, and they have been ever since. They also used a number of illegal spells and potions on him to build his strength, stamina, agility, stealth and so on. He is highly skilled and very dangerous; unfortunately he was undetected until we received a tip off from a rogue family member just 5 days ago. Obviously the family is in league with Voldemort, who requested his skills to catch you, apparently Mercury didn't want to, he thought it was cruel, considering his family and the way he was bought up this was an astonishing development. However, Voldemort can still use Mercury to get to you. We can't do anything about it other than warn you. Minerva here is the head of Grifindor, she, Dumbledore, Hagrid the gamekeeper and Professor Snape will all keep an eye on you. It is important that you make it seem like you think he is just a regular guy, we want you to get close to him and find out about Voldemort. You'll find that he might just let something slip. I must warn you, he is extremely strong, you will receive extra lessons from Professor McGonnogal and Professor Snape in combat and defence as well as help to catch up with the other students in your year." "!" She sat, her eyebrows raised and her mouth hanging open. "Lilly? Are you okay?" said Molly, placing a mug of hot tea down in front of her. "Err...yeah, just letting it sink in..." she sipped at the hot sweet liquid. "Okay, so that's it? Right..." "You don't have to do it, if you don't want to, but it's the only way." "No, sure, of course, yeah I'll do it." She finished her tea then wondered wordlessly up to bed, she didn't sleep. She sat up, Fonze curled in her lap; mulling it all over, assessing the risks. After about an hour, Bill popped his head round the door, Lilly tip toed into the hall. "Are you okay about all this Lilly?" he asked looking into her eyes concernedly. "Yeah, I think so, it's a little scary, but I have to help, and it's best that I know." She said shrugging. Bill pulled her into a huge hug, one hand in her hair, the other pulling her close. "I just don't want you to get hurt," he said kissing the top of her head. 


	5. Chapter 5 Hogwarts at last

Chapter five – Hogwarts at last  
  
Soon the days passed by, they were mainly spent training her for what was to come. She spent her last day with Bill, she was thankful that she didn't cry, she knew that this partition would have to happen many times. They vowed to meet upas soon as possible, even if it meant him travelling all the way to Hogsmeade. Finally the day came when Lilly, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were to leave on the Hogwarts Express. They hugged for the last time for a while on platform 9 ¾, then Lilly jumped on the train and soon it was speeding through the countryside. She sat in a compartment with the twins and a few of their friends, she felt perturbed and shy at the amount of people and shouting there was. There were the twins and 5 other boys all crammed into the compartment. She sat in between a mysterious, quiet dark haired boy and the window. She spent the first half an hour looking out of the window, but then a blond across from her spoke. She hadn't been listening to the boys discussion and she was startled to find the group had been talking about herself. "It sounds like you have a pretty interesting life Lilly," he said, oblivious to the truth. Her life was dangerous and hard and it always had been. "Yeah, you could say that," she smiled nervously "What's it like, living on the streets of Muggle London." "I wouldn't recommend it, but strangely I'll miss it. Well, I'll miss the friends I made at least. The streets are cold; people grow up with this image of being able to get by on the street. They think they'll make friends and find a squat straight away, but no, it was the loneliest I'd ever been, sleeping on street corners, begging for money...stealing. Thankfully I did make friends and find a squat, but not for a while, and I'm one of the lucky ones, most people don't make friends and die on the street after just a few months." "Cheery," said the blond, "You get used to it," she teased, sticking out her tongue They chatted for a long time, then the snack cart trundled along and they all bought some food, after they had finished eating they decided to change into their robes. Lilly slipped out and managed to find an empty cubicle where she changed. The new uniform felt strange on her, she returned to the compartment and laughed and joked with the boys for a while. It was dark and slightly stormy outside. After a while the train finally pulled into the station, Lilly had trouble lugging her trunk and Fonze's basket whilst dodging people about to become tangled in her wings. She finally made it to some carriages; she recoiled at the sight of what was drawing them, black skeletal horses with white eyes and big scaly wings. Their rough hollow faces creeped her out and she stopped, but Hermione appeared and pulled her to one of the carriages. Harry, Ron and a boy she didn't know sat inside, she climbed in and sat. "You can see them too?" said Harry "See what?" "The things pulling the carriage." He said bluntly "Oh, yeah. Can't everyone?" "Only people who've seen someone die." He said coldly "Oh," she said, her eyes stinging "Who did you see die?" asked Harry "None of your god-damned business!" she snapped a little harshly, there was a long and fraught silence, "I'm sorry..." "Oh, don't worry about it..." he said in an emotional monotone, narrowing his eyes at her. She detected the teeniest trace of bitter sarcasm Lilly drew her wings around her and swiped a tear from her face. Suddenly she began to feel very ill, a tight knot writhing in her gut. She tried not to whimper as the pain grew up through her body, her muscles ached and it felt like the skin and flesh on her back was squirming. She didn't notice what went on outside, her head throbbed to much to keep her eyes open. After a few minutes they stopped and she stumbled out into the mud, she only just managed to stay standing. She was shaking all over and it felt like the pain was freezing all the muscles in her chest and throat, she had trouble breathing and her vision began to blur then her eyes rolled back into her head as a jolt of pain sent a shock through her body. She threw back her head, her mouth open as if she was screaming but no sound came out. The next thing she new she awoke on her front, in a strange room, it looked a little like a hospital for the fact that there was a row of white beds, all but her own was empty. Her body still throbbed dully with the after affects of the pain. She turned over and sat up, then a plumb and kindly looking woman came in and bustled around her. "How are you feeling my dear?" "I'm fine, back to normal...how long have I been here?" "Oh. Only about 10 minutes, but I don't think your ready to leave just yet." "How long?" she asked "I just want to test your essentials, then you can leave." She said She waved her wand over Lilly while muttering an invocation. "Okay, stay right there," the lady bustled away and returned with a seaming hot mug of something. "Drink up," Lilly did so and was soon on her way to the great hall, accompanied by Professor McGonagall. She entered the hall timidly and was guided to the front by McGonagall, ahead was a long table along which sat the teachers of the school, in the middle was the head, Professor Dumbledore. "This year we have a student who is starting school late, who also is required to sit the sorting." Said he Lilly was sat down on a stool, there were four tables stretched out along the length of the hall in front of her. She tensed up slightly in preparation for what she didn't know. Then she felt a warm heaviness on her head and she noticed that McGonagall had placed a large wizards hat on her head. It had barely touched her when she heard it shout "Griffindor!" She almost fell off the seat and there was a huge torrent of clapping from the table on her near left. McGonagall pushed her towards it and she went and sat down. There was a free seat in between George and Harry, she sat down and looked at the large gold plate that lay in front of her. "Welcome to our house," said George "Thanks," she said "Let's eat!" said Dumbledore, Lilly gasped when the trays and platters and decanters filled with food and drink of every kind. The others all leant forward and began to fill their plates, Lilly followed suit, the food was divine and she was soon gorging herself. She didn't know why she was so hungry and the others were amazed at how she managed to eat so much so quickly without getting a single spot of food anywhere. She shrugged when Fred asked "Maybe it's because of your new wings?" he said "But that was a week ago..." she said "No, your new ones." Said Hermione from across the table "What...?" she said George put a hand up behind her neck; it wasn't touching her neck yet she felt it. She swallowed and put her hands up, she had small wings protruding from the base of her head, one below each ear. Each was about a foot and a half long, she attempted a flex and they moved a little, she tried again and they flapped properly, she almost got Harry in the ear, thankfully he didn't notice. She flexed them slowly and curled them round; they were a beautiful black with midnight purple hues. She flexed her main wings and felt a strange flutter; she twisted her head and saw that she now had two pairs of wings on her back. In between her main pair, which was still black with Jade hues, there was a smaller second pair that was black with beautiful azure and royal blue hues. Each was about 2 and a half feet long, her main pair were four foot each and the combinations of the three pairs looked really cool. "Hey, don't be looking so pleased with yourself," said George "Shush," said Lilly Soon the food disappeared from the plates and they poured out of the hall, as Lilly was climbing the stairs she noticed a boy with black hair so soft and strange it looked like the finest feathers, yet it was hair, it was arranged in a spiral and it hung down over his eyes, it covered his ears and had grown down to the base of his neck, she hadn't realised she'd stopped to look, until he looked up, his huge extremely blue eyes blinked at her. She quickly turned and continued up the stairs, she fell in step with Hermione. "Heya," she said "Hi," Hermione replied "So...how are you?" she asked "I'm good I guess, and you?" "I'm okay, finding it really weird here, but I'm okay..." "Cool, you know Lilly, when Harry seems mean or bitter to you, don't take it personally, he's had a really rough time." "Oh, okay, well at least it's not that he hates me." "Well...to tell you the truth he feels threatened by you, he doesn't trust you. I guess you just need to give him time to get to know you." Lilly sighed They finally reached a hallway; Hermione pushed her way to the front of the crowd and to a large painting of a plump lady in a lavender dress. "Toffee Apples," she said "That's right my dear," said the painting, and swung open to reveal a large hole, through which the crowd poured. They entered a large room with a fire and an assortment of chairs, sofas and poufs. Lilly followed Hermione up a spiral staircase and into a door marked 'Fifth year girls'. Her trunk was already at the foot of one of the beds by the window. She threw herself on to it, it was a gorgeous four-poster with green hangings and spread, it was covered in comfy cushions. "Oh, yeah, Lilly...because of your...err...wings, you might find it difficult to shower in the regular bathrooms, so McGonagall and Dumbledore have given me permission to give you the password to the prefect's bathroom. It's..." Hermione moved towards her and leant closer, "...Lime Zest." "Oh, thanks," smiled Lilly "No problem," she grinned back Then four other girls entered the room. "Lilly, these are Pavarti, Lavender, Keiley and Jane." "Hi," she grinned "Hi, said Lavender, "So...can you fly?!" she asked excitedly "Lavender!" said Hermione warningly "No, it's okay, I don't mind. To be honest...I don't know, I haven't had time to think about it. I might try them out tomorrow when I have some spare time." "Wow..." all four girls breathed in unison. They all changed into their pyjamas and climbed into bed. Lilly took a small while to take in her surroundings, each of the six beds was a different colour, she had green, Hermione had blue, Lavender had well...lavender...actually it was purple but shush. Pavarti had Gold, Jane had Red and Keiley had deep magenta. The room was large with a huge deep pile Chinese silk rug on wood floor. The ceiling was white with black rafters and the walls were stone. There were huge windows that looked out on to the lake and the forbidden forest. She snuggled into her cushions, Fonze sprawled on a cushion, and was soon fast asleep, which was surprising since she had so much to take in and think about. 


	6. Chapter 6 A hectic day

Chapter six – a hectic day  
  
Lilly woke early the next morning; she stretched in the morning light and hummed the Japanese theme to Evangelion. At the end of her bed there was a letter, she picked it up and opened it.  
  
Lilly Here is your timetable for after school lessons:  
  
Lilly rumbled to herself before stuffing it in her bag, she also put her wand, parchment, ink, quills, books and a water bottle in as well. She then got up and went to the little sink in one corner; she washed her face then changed into her uniform. The others woke up as she was putting her tie on; they stretched and yawned. "Good morning," said Hermione "Morning," grinned Lilly, pulling on her boots Hermione got dressed quickly and Lilly only had to wait for a few minutes. They walked down to breakfast together and Lilly was just tucking into a bacon, sausage and brown sauce sandwich. Suddenly, a torrent of owls poured through the hall landing in front of some people. Lilly almost yelped when one landed in front of her,  
  
Dear Lilly, This letter will read differently to anyone else who reads it but you; this is basically a guide on how to approaching Mercury.  
  
Lilly sighed at the measly few paragraphs of information and put it in her bag, then finished off her pumpkin juice, their first lesson was potions with Slytherin. Lilly fell instep beside Harry this time, "Hi," she said "Hello," he said, his usual cold self "How are you?" she asked "Fine," he said simply There was a big gap "You?" he finally asked out of courtesy "Okay I guess, it's hard to fit in when you're me." She said He finally actually looked at her, "How do you mean?" he'd softened the tiniest bit, which made it easier to talk to him. "Well, I'm shy, I've started really late, I'm a bit of a mutant and just general blah." She said "I wouldn't say you're a mutant, I always pictured mutants as ugly." He said "Thanks," she smiled, taking it as a compliment They reached Potions and lined up outside A white skinny blond approached them, sneering. "You know Lilly, it isn't a good idea for you to hang out with these losers, why don't you sit with me in potions?" "Because I'm already going to be sitting with someone else," "Shame, we could have been great friends..." he grinned, "Potter and his cronies are of a shoddy comparison," "That I doubt," she said, grinning, bearing her teeth for all their glory "Shit!" he said, almost jumping back "Oh, I'm so sorry, did I frighten poor little lambykins?" she said, putting her head on one side. He stalked off to the Slytherin side of the door. Professor Snape appeared just a few seconds later and they filed inside. Lilly sat with Keiley and got out her books and cauldron. The lesson was long and difficult for Lilly because she was two years behind in knowledge. "Oh dear Mortimer, you do have some catching up to do. Well at least you have some understanding of the subject." Snapped Snape when he passed She went a little pink and buried her nose in her book Otherwise the lesson was fine, apart from the difficult assignment set on sleeping potions for homework. She was glad to leave the dingy room and step out into the day light for herbology. She found it a simple lesson, apart from her wings getting somewhat in the way. She was glad to be free of the confines when it was time for lunch; she ate quickly and went outside, she wanted a little time to herself. She walked round the lake flexing her many wings, she saw a tentacle rise from the depths and she only just managed to stop her self from yelling. She decided to walk away from the lake after that, she kept flexing and flapping her wings and she giggled when the motion lifted her clean off the ground for a few seconds. This made her decide to find a secluded spot to see what they could really do, she had some trouble with her take off at first but she found that if she ran and jumped and flapped she could catch the wind and soar. She gasped as she soared upwards above the roof of the school, then swooped back down to land, she hit the ground a little too hard and she fell back into the grass, but she laughed anyhow. She happily returned to school just in time to catch Hermione as she headed up the stairs. "Heya," she grinned "Why so joyful?" asked Hermione "Cause I can fly!" said Lilly beaming "Wow, cool." Breathed Hermione They walked along corridors and up stairs until they finally got to the correct room, in the line outside there was much discussion over whom the new teacher would be. Apparently there was some sought of curse which caused each teacher to leave, lose all of their memory or even die. Silence fell when the door swung open; there stood a tall lady with long black hair. The class filed in and sat, "Good afternoon class, my name is Professor Kielty and I'm your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I understand that you've covered many creatures and even the unforgivable curses. However, you have never studied drugs. I know this isn't really a defence against the dark arts topic but it is required for your NEWTS. Please take quick notes as I go. Some of you will probably have heard of some illegal Muggle drugs, such as Cannabis, Cocaine, LSD, Heroine, Rhohipnol etc. There are 'drugs' much like these in the magical world, which are also illegal. There are your Class D personal use drugs, which are partly legal, like Gnome's Gold, which is a depressant. This just means it enhances the mood you are already in, a lot like alcohol or Nicotine. It's legal to take it if you are 21 and it can only be bought in extremely small amounts at a time. Apothecaries usually have a personality recognition system so that people can't buy more than one dose every three days. A similar drug is King's rose, this is a very mild hallucinogenic as well as a depressant. This isn't as readily available and can only be bought once a week and has to be taken on the premises of the special Rose bar. You have to be 21 and a week since you took any to even enter one of these bars. I would give you some more examples but we have to get through four more classes, which are a little more complicated, are there any questions about Class D drugs?" she asked "Is cannabis used by magical people?" asked a curious boy at the back of the class "More often than most magical drugs as it is so easy to get hold of, it is the way with all muggle drugs." She said, "Any more...Okay, moving on to Class C, none of the drugs in this class are legal, one example of these is faerie dust, as in real faerie dust. This is a Hallucinogenic Narcotic, it isn't as potent as this description makes it sound, but it still has its affects. It's like Ecstasy to a muggle; it makes you very happy, makes you see things like bunnies and stuff and acts as an aphrodisiac. However it causes brain damage if it is taken too often, in some cases it takes one dose to cause brain damage. Another example of a class C drug is Mermaid's blood; it has little to do with mermaids and is actually extracted from a rare breed of sea kelp. It is a strong aphrodisiac and enhances and prolongs orgasms." There was scattered sniggering which Kielty ignored. "However it also causes irreparable paralysis and nerve damage. The third and final example of a class C drug is Dragon smoke; this causes the taker to believe they are something that they are not. It doesn't have any primary health threats, but it can make people believe they can fly with out a broom/walk through fire without a spell/Break their spine and not die etc. Any questions? Good...this brings us to Class B drugs; these are all extremely strong, extremely dangerous drugs. My first example is fire flower; these flowers grow in places like The Amazon and Malaysia. They are very distinctive flowers with bright fiery orange and red petals with green spiral fronds growing from the middle. These are used to look like nectar carrying fronds; so small animals go near them, only to be trapped inside and digested. When the fronds and petals are dried and ground to a powder they are snorted in through the nose and cause the subject to have huge feelings of extreme happiness and empathy. However it will eventually eat away at the subject's lungs until they die. My second example of a class B drug is Virgin's cherries. These are berry like fruit, which are distinctly turquoise in colour; they give the subject orgasms but can also cause them to fall asleep forever. They still live in the way that they breathe and their heart beats, but it is impossible to wake them up, ever, there isn't a case that has. Any questions?" "When they fall asleep do they age? Do they die from old age?" "No, they sleep, for ever and ever and ever. Un less you kill them deliberately, they cannot catch disease but they can die from Mortal injury." She said, "Finally we have reached Class A of the personal use magical drugs. I've been given special permission to educate you in this, as it is a drug that is kept incredibly quiet by the government. It is the only drug in its class. Lucifer's Breath is a highly potent Hallucinogenic, the effect lasts for a week and the only known subject to have survived long enough to tell anyone said they experienced complete paralysis and multiple prolonged orgasms over the entire week. However they died, from old age, because that is what it does, it causes the subject to age at a phenomenal rate until they turn to dust. The more horrible thing is that when someone breathed in the dust they went into a similar state of paralysis and orgasm for one day, they aged 20 years and experienced a number of health risked until they died after one month, they died because they took too much dust, they had become addicted and stored as much as possible in a box and took it every other day. Any questions?" "How available is it through the black market?" "The government has made it almost impossible to obtain, but there are still some cases where people have taken it. In all but one of these the dust has been cleared completely." "When a person dies from taking the dust do they turn in to dust which can be taken in turn?" "No, it's said that their bodies stay perfectly preserved, once a body of a person who'd died from taking the dust was stolen and a person had written in a diary after drinking their blood that they had had orgasms and experienced paralysis of the legs. Anymore? Okay...our last class is manipulative drugs. There are only two known ones, the first is bone dust, which puts the victim in a conscious state of helplessness, they can feel and know exactly what is going on, but they can't move, see or scream. This mainly used by rapists. The second is Devil's seed, which has the same characteristics as Bone dust but when the victim is raped they give birth to a demon, they cannot have it aborted because it will only cause for several more demons to grow in it's place. Neither of these are detectable in any way, which is why you must always be careful not to leave drinks or food unattended and not to trust strangers. Any questions?" "What happens when Devil's seed is given to a guy?" "It causes them to go on a raping rampage and impregnates all of his victims with demons. Thankfully Devil's dust is incredibly rare and many experts believe it is extinct." And so the lesson continued, Professor Kielty taught the class haw to recognise each drug and even showed them how to make a potion that would neutralise a drink if you knew it had Bone Dust in it. The class exited at the end chattering excitedly about the lesson. Then they went on their way to Charms, it was a fairly simple and interesting subject for Lilly compared to others. They were soon leaving the class and returning to Griffindor tower. Lilly dumped her bag then trudged down to her defensive potions lesson, Snape quizzed her on ingredients then showed her how to make a temporary invisibility potion. The lesson wasn't as bad as the lesson during the day but Snape was still impatient with her lack of knowledge. Finally she was freed from the dungeon, Lilly had a quick shower in the prefect's bathroom before changing and going to dinner, she ate quickly so that she could have a quick walk in the grounds. She practised her flying in a secluded spot; she was having some difficulty practising gathering speed when Harry appeared round the corner. Lilly yelped and fell startled 10 feet down to the ground, "Oh! I'm sorry..." he said running to help her up "That's okay, I can't get the hang of this flying lark, I can hover and fly slowly and turn and go fairly high and stuff. But I can't gather speed very well." "Well you haven't had much chance to practise, you probably just need to get used to it." He said "I guess," "Have you tried running and jumping?" "Yeah, but I don't have much room to do much running in my secluded spot..." "Then do it in the open," "But I don't want to seem like I'm showing off..." "If anyone accuses you of showing off they can have a piece of me." "Really?" "Of course," "Cool, thanks Harry." She grinned making her way out into a more open area, she took a deep breath, stretched and got into running position. Then she took off, she pelted down the grass at high speed before jumping and spreading her wings and flapping as well as she could. She soared up, the adrenaline driving; she steadily gathered speed as she swooped over the lake, her hair streaming out behind her. She streaked upwards and Harry had become a teeny speck, she flew towards the large oak doors and swerved past before zooming up and over back to Harry. She landed carefully and grinned... "That was showing off," he teased She stuck her tongue out at him, "I couldn't help it, it felt so good." She grinned They walked back to school then Lilly realised she was going to be late for extra charms and took off. She finally finished Charms and Transfiguration and collapsed into a chair in the common room. "Hey Lilly...those extra lessons getting you down?" asked Fred "Uh-hu," she mumbled, "Only two more weeks of intensive learning then they ease it back a bit, until Christmas, then they completely tone it down. Can't wait..." she said, completely knackered, she felt tired, yet she didn't have the usual symptoms, she could think perfectly straight and all her senses were still very sharp. She went up stairs and had a quick wash, she changed and when she hit the sack she was almost immediately asleep. However, she had fitful dreams of Akira's spell. She remembered the green sheen and that growing ball of white light, and that boy, that black haired boy. She woke in a sweat at 4am, she stretched and lay back down, after trying for an hour she couldn't get back to sleep so she went for a long hot bath in the prefect's bathroom. She understood why there wasn't a separate bathroom for each sex, the bubbles were too damn dense to see a thing through and a potion in the water made alarms go off when ever a boy was being the slightest bit dodgy, in fact there was a plaque on the wall that read 'If there is any non accidental intimate touching of any kind, or if anyone tries to 'take a peak' then alarms will sound and the appropriate teachers will be informed immediately. Also, there is a disillusionment charm that falls on anyone is getting out of the bath' then in really teeny print 'disillusionment charm and potion not operational between 12.30am and 6am'. She was just relaxing in the hot water, perfumed bubbles of all shapes, sizes and colours floating around her, hoping no boy would come in when the door creaked open. She prayed that it wasn't a guy, but her luck was out. In fact it was very out. Actually it completely destroyed the guide for her mission. Who should walk in but none-other than Mercury? Her mouth fell open and she turned to face the opposite wall. "Oh, I didn't realise there was anyone else in here...you don't mind if I join you?" he asked, not that he waited for an answer before stripping off and lowering himself in. She could hear him wading around, when she turned round he was at the shallow end, soaping himself, the bubbles came up to his belly button and she almost made a weird 'meep...' sound when she saw his gorgeous torso. It was toned and gorgeous and slightly golden, well weirdly, it looked white yet it had a strange golden hue that made it almost shimmer. She decided to take her mind off it by washing her hair. She took out the chopsticks that held it up and placed them on the side, then she realised that she'd left her shampoo, conditioner and brush at the other end of the bath. She swam to the beginning of the shallow water then crouched and folded her wings around her body in order to keep her dignity. She finally came with in reach of what she wanted and grabbed them. She then went back to where it was deep enough to stand without flashing and massaged shampoo into her hair. She left it in and leant against the edge of the pool, her legs kicking out, her arms stretched along the side for a few minutes. It wasn't much later that she was combing the conditioner in and twisting her hair up and sticking the chopsticks back in, in order to let it deep moisturise. While she waited Mercury swam to her end of the pool, he watched her for a long while, making her feel very self-conscious. "What's your name?" he asked "Lilly..." she said quietly, "Yours?" "Mercury, you suffered from bottled magic...didn't you?" he said "Yeah, hence the wings," she didn't know why he had such an affect over her. "So did I, come here," he said "Umh..." "I'm not going to bite your head off," he said She swam a little closer; he turned his head and lifted the edge of his hair. There were two slits with grey scaly flaps over them. "Whoa...gills..." she said "They aren't very attractive...I like your results better, they're beautiful, just like you..." he went quiet at the end and went a bit pink, "I mean...I mean I don't mean...emh..." he trailed off So it was his turn to be shy "Thanks..." said Lilly quietly after a while "Can you really fly, my cousin Draco said he saw you flying this afternoon." "Yeah...I'm not too good yet, but I'll get the hang of it." She said "He also said that you wouldn't be friends with him," "Well..." "Good choice, he's a nasty little git." He said "Aaw, you speak so highly of your cousin," "He's a little shit," he said plainly, smiling "I don't know him, but I did get some dick-head vibes." She said "Most probable," Lilly rinsed the conditioner from her hair thoroughly and combed it through several times, she then put all her stuff in a group at the shallow end and standing just enough to wrap her towel round her she climbed out and went into a cubicle to dry off, moisturise and clothe herself. She had trouble drying her wings but she eventually got the hang of it. "See you round," she said It was 6am when she returned to the room, she changed into her track bottoms and a vest top, then went to the open window. She climbed up on to the ledge and looked down, she almost fell backwards; hundreds of feet blow laid the cold grass. She stood, clung to each side of the outer window frame. She leaned forwards, her heart was going a mile a minute, she spread her wings then jumped. She plummeted 50 feet before catching a draft and pumping her feathered appendages. She soared upwards, then swooped down, past hundreds of windows. The feeling was exhilarating, she almost screamed with delight as she soared away and over the treetops of the forest. She had one hour to get changed, have breakfast and get to her first lesson in time when she returned so she did so very quickly. The day passed slow and painful, after her last extra lesson Harry, Hermione and Ron decided to take her down to Hagrid's cabin for a visit. Hagrid, the games keeper, was half giant, they told. They trudged through the mud to the little log cabin and knocked on the door. The door swung open and a huge man stood there, he was twice as big as a normal man and at least three times as wide. His face was mostly concealed by a large amount of dark grizzly hair and beard, his beetle like eyes shined happily down on them, his beard shifting with his smile. "Come on in yeh lot!" he said "Hey Hagrid," said Hermione as the four of them filed inside the single room cabin, there was a fire and huge bed at one end and a table with some chairs around it at the other. "Ah, this mus' be Lilly, righ'? Si' down, d'yeh like a cuppa tea?" he asked They all nodded gratefully, the weather was getting decidedly nippy outside and they needed to warm them selves up. They talked to Hagrid for a long while, about what he'd been up to and the order of the phoenix. "Yeah, the bird is doin' well, 'specially 'cause o' our newest member!" he said winking at Lilly "Hagrid!" she said warningly, surprised. "Shouldn'a said tha'." "Lilly! Why didn't you say?!" asked Ron "I'm not allowed, don't ask me anything! I'm not giving any answers to your questions!" she said covering her ears. After an hour or so the four trudged back up to the castle and to bed. And so the next two weeks progressed, she began to get very tired and bored of the extra lessons. She tried her best to follow her mission guidelines, but failed so she changed it around completely, she spent the first two weeks observing and only making eye contact, with a quick hi in the corridor every now and again. Knowing that moving in to fast would make the intelligent boy suspicious. 


	7. Chapter 7 Combat

Chapter 7 – combat  
  
After those first two weeks of mayhem Lilly was glad that her lessons were eased back so much, she started flying, stretching and running every morning and she was amazed at her speed and strength. She bathed every morning as well; very early as it was best she didn't bond too quickly with Mercury. The best thing about the change in extra lessons was the addition of 'hand to hand combat' in to the table; she would start weaponry after October. She would turn 16 on the 28th of October, and she would be legally allowed to handle all the weapons provided for her by her parents. On Friday morning in the third week she woke late, not realising that she had and made her way down to the baths. She strolled in her usual early- morning, languid way, whistling a tune. She sauntered into the bathroom and put her stuff down on the edge of the bath, then froze. Mercury was there, yet again foiling her mission. He was beaming at her. "Emh...hi," she said "Haven't seen you in here for quite some time...where've you been?" he asked "Coming in earlier..." she said sheepishly "Avoiding me?" he said, making puppy eyes at her "No...I just prefer bathing by myself." She said "Okay," he said, smiling knowingly She folded her wings around herself, and Mercury respectfully turned round to face the opposite way. Lilly stripped off all her clothes and slipped into the water. She immediately began her hair ritual. Mercury watched her for some time as she sat on the floor of the shallow end, combing conditioner into her hair. "What time is it?" she asked "Half five," he said "You're a bit earlier than usual..." she said "I know, I was hoping to catch you...so are you late or would you normally wash like a speed-a-holic?" he asked grinning "I'm a bit late this morning," she said "Thought so," he said There was a long silence in which Lilly rinsed her hair and soaped herself "Li...Lilly?" he asked "Yeah?" she said, not turning round. "Are you doing anything this Saturday?" "No..." she said "It's just that I thought you might want to hang out, it's the first Hogsmeade weekend and I could show you around." "That would be cool," she said, secretly grinning her head open and rinsing off the soap. "Great," he said, she turned round slightly and saw him smiling happily to himself. After a few moments of soaking she clambered out of the tub, carefully guarding herself and snuggling into a towel. School wasn't remarkable that day but before they started the end of day feast in the hall Dumbledore spoke up. "Good evening everyone, it is my pleasure to announce that there will be a Halloween ball on the 31st of October for 4th years and above. Dress robes are required and to keep the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years happy there will be a Mini-ball the night after." There was loud excited chattering among students, especially the girls "Ah-hem," said Professor Dumbledore, "There will be a dance competition judged by myself and the each head of house. The best dancers will be awarded 50 house points for their efforts. "Now, dig in!" he said sitting Lilly ate happily; she wasn't too excited as she knew about the dance anyhow. She slept well that night and woke even later, though when she went down for a quick shower, Mercury wasn't there. She supposed that he didn't wake so early on a weekend. After washing, drying, stretching and carefully clothing herself in light blue jeans, white vest top and long sleeved net top. She grabbed her stuff and went down to breakfast. Mercury met her by the lake. "Hey," he said "Hey," she said, "How are you?" "I'm good, you?" he said watching people pour out of the doors towards the gates to Hogsmeade. "I'm very good," she grinned They walked with the crowd out of the gates and down the road to the village. Mercury showed her round every square yard of the interesting parts of the village. They had fun smelling books, stealing tastes of sweets and sipping warm butterbeer. For the last thing Mercury had saved a little hidden shop down a back alley. She almost squealed with delight when she found big racks full of Magic Music records. "This is amazing!" she said, she darted immediately for the metal, rock and punk section and began rifling through them, finding several choice records. She only just stopped herself from flinging her arms around him. "Thank you! Why is no-one in here?" "No-one knows about it except a few older students and locals." "I love it!" she said trotting up to the counter and paying for her records. She hugged Mercury before they made their way back to school. They shared a quick peck before they parted and Lilly went to her duelling lesson. She was thoroughly warn out when she went to dinner and only had a quick chance to rest before going to her first ever hand to hand combat lesson. It was with the new Dark arts teacher Professor Kielty, she hadn't seemed the fighting type but it turned out she was an ace at martial arts. She was surprised at Lilly's ability to fight, which she had learnt from the street. Despite this ability she was aching, bruised and thoroughly pooped when she went to bed at the early hour of 9. She woke at 5 and went and had her usual bath before stretching out her aching muscles. She remembered her task for today, to attract Mercury's attention so that he could comfort her, it wouldn't be hard, the day was sad enough anyway. She got an early breakfast and had it by the lake, tossing bits of crust to the giant squid. She sighed, draining her pumpkin juice glass before taking her plate and things back inside. She couldn't quite fathom how much a single date could get her down. She was just setting down her things when a familiar pale face interrupted her. "Lilly, why so glum?" asked Malfoy "None of your business." "Okay, don't get shirty with me doll face." He said pushing her into the table. She knew she couldn't get angry and break his neck in front of everyone in the great hall, she just straightened herself up and glared, her wings arched, her eyes flashing and her pointy teeth bared. "That doesn't scare me anymore my little vampire, what can you do in a crowded room?" he said "And the same goes for you, so go fuck off." "Oi! Don't you dare..." he began but she'd already turned and was marching off, tears in her eyes, her wings twitching. She was striding along the corridor, her eyes slightly blurry, towards the library when she practically ran into Harry, Ron and Hermione. She looked startled, wiped her eyes, blinked, mumbled something about having weak tear ducts before carrying on her way. She found a nice big book on bottled magic to hide behind and read. She was there for some time, when she realised that tears were leaking out of her eyes, and someone was standing over her. She looked up awkwardly blinking tears out of her eyes, it was Mercury. "Hi," she croaked "What's wrong?" he asked crouching next to her chair She shrugged, "It's silly..." "Tell me, please." He said, his eyes going all droopy and concerned "My parents died on this date, when I was very little, I don't remember them." He said nothing, but pulled her out of her chair and into a warm hug, she buried her face in his shoulder. They went and sat in a dark secluded corner and Lilly talked about her life as an orphan. At around 10 she realised she had missed her first two extra lessons of the day and ran to her respective teachers and apologised profusely and promised it wouldn't happen again. To make up for it she stayed in her dorm and studied until lunch. Feeding cat snacks to Fonze occasionally who asked her lots of questions and read over her shoulder about never- pods and Quintet's vine. She had lunch then sat in the library with Mercury who helped her with her Transfiguration homework and just generally hung out until it was time for her to go to her Charms lesson. 


	8. Chapter 8 The Party

Chapter 8 – The Party  
  
That week she spent her spare time in the library, studying, avoiding Mercury. Then on Friday he'd got up even earlier to be there when she came for her daily bath. "Been avoiding me?" he asked "No, not as such...just needed some time to myself..." she said uneasily, faltering at the side of the bath. He didn't turn around for her so she awkwardly removed her clothes beneath a towel. Then he seemed to realise he was still watching her and turned away so she could get in, which she did. "There's a party in the 7th year guys dorm in Griffindor tower on Saturday night...D...d'you want to come with?" he said once she'd settled on the floor. "Sure," she smiled They bathed in silence, then Mercury left with a quick wink. Lilly was rather distracted all Friday, thinking about the party on Saturday. Instead of heading to the library at 4.30 she went to her dorm and rifled through her clothing, trying to find something to wear. At 5.30 she had finally assembled her outfit and decided what she'd wear with it makeup and accessory wise. She'd never been so girly in her life, after reading a few chapters of her potions book she went down to dinner. Saturday passed about as quick as a snail taking a leisurely stroll. She paid no attention to any of her extra lessons. Except when it came to hand 2 hand combat, in which she excelled, and due her increased exercise levels her muscles were beginning to really loosen up so she wasn't in much pain when she dashed to have a two minute shower and magically remove the hair on her legs. When she'd finally changed and assembled herself she almost collided with Mercury after jumping down the stairs from the girls dormitories. He led her by the hand up to the seventh year dorm and pulled her inside. She was immediately handed a glass and pointed over to a trunk that had a wide array of bottles standing on it. She poured herself some real ale and lemonade and turned to find Fred and George grinning at her. "Hi," she grinned "Now Lilly, we thought better of you!" said Fred "What ever for?" she smiled innocently before being dragged away by Mercury to meet some random people. She managed to keep the same glass of ale and lemonade for quite some time while Mercury was knocking it back. There were actually quite a few people at the party. There were mainly sixth and seventh year Griffindor boys with a smattering of Griffindor 7th year girls, a few ravenclaw boys and just two Slytherin guys, including Mercury, so around 30 all together. Music was playing loudly from a MMP and Lilly asked why no one had come and asked them to stop it. Apparently they'd worked for a week on magically soundproofing the room. Mercury dragged her over and they danced crazily with every one else. She actually had lots of fun. Then George challenged her to a shot contest. "George! I thought better of you!" she said "What ever for?" he said fluttering his eye lashes, "You're not wimpling out are you?" "Chuh! No...Of course not!" she said, fast to defend herself "Go Lilly!" said Mercury shoving her down on the floor, on one side of a trunk, George sat opposite, who was decidedly drunk already, giving Lilly a head start. The first shot (of vodka) was poured and she knocked it back immediately. Five shots later they were both made to stand up and George passed-out, making Lilly the winner, who was now very drunk. She fell into Mercury's arms, giggling. He gently pushed her back onto the bed that was behind her and pounced on top of her, tickling her sides. She was an incredibly ticklish person, and she was laughing so much she could barely breathe. "Mer....mercury...stop!" she giggled, she pushed at him, causing them to roll over and fall off the edge of the bed. Mercury landed precariously between her legs, a hand either side of her. They both froze, staring at each other. Then Lilly remembered her plan of action and rolled over so that she was on top, yelled "I win!" And jumped up "Someone get me another drink!" she said, feigning innocence Mercury shoved a beer into her hand just a few minutes later, grinning that alluring grin of his. There was more dancing and a game of magical twister and more drinking on the part of everyone but Lilly. It was fun and it bought her a bit closer to Mercury by the minute. When she was in bed Lilly was thinking about mercury and felt suddenly guilty for doing what she was doing. It isn't his fault, he's actually okay, if a little forward. She woke late on Sunday morning. Well, at eight thirty, which is late for her. She went down to the baths, there was only a sixth year girl taking a shower and no one else. She had a leisurely bath before drying, dressing and heading down for a hearty full English breakfast. She then went and studied in the library for a couple of hours then found a secluded spot in a clearing at the edge of the lake, further away from the school and practised exercising her wings. She noticed how much stronger she was getting and how her new powers and skills were making her more accurate and concentrative. She was just practising precision with her wings by trying to make it look like she was walking on water when she felt a nasty crackling in her head and through her jaw and neck. She shook her head, holding her hand in front of her eyes. The sun seemed far too bright now, she felt sick and she couldn't keep her wings beating, she was slowly sinking into the water. The lake looked horribly deep now. Then everything went fuzzy, then grey, then black cold and silent. 


End file.
